Movses Abelian

Movses Abelian is an Armenian diplomat who has served as Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management and Coordinator for Multilingualism in the United Nations Secretariat since 2019.^[1]

Movses Abelian
United Nations Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management
In office 1 September 2019 – Incumbent
Preceded by	Catherine Pollard
United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management
In office 2016–2019
Preceded by	Catherine Pollard
Succeeded by	Cherith Norman Chalet
Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations
In office 1998–2003
Personal details
Children	2

Education and early career

Abelian was educated in Armenia, Russia and the United States of America. He was an associate professor at Yerevan State University from 1989 to 1992^[2] before joining the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia.^[1]

Diplomatic and international roles

In 1996 Abelian was appointed Deputy Permanent Representative of Armenia to the United Nations, and later served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative from 1998 to 2003. During his tenure he held roles as chair of the General Assembly's Fifth Committee in 1998, vice-chair of the United Nations Disarmament Commission in 2000, president of the Executive Board of UNICEF in 2001 and facilitator for United Nations reform in 2002.^[1]

After becoming a United Nations official, Abelian served as director of the Security Council Affairs Division from 2011 to 2016 before being appointed Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management. He succeeded Catherine Pollard as Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management^[3] and Coordinator for Multilingualism^[4] in 2019.^[1]

Personal life

Abelian is married and has two children.^[1]